4th Punch

[medicalpunch]

[After Luceti Valley fades away, Sakura spends a couple days hunting down her patients, healing anyone who asks for it, trying to wrap her head around the changes she went through, trying to reestablish herself as Haruno Sakura, medic-nin of Konoha.

But when the morning dawns, two days after Luceti returned to normal, Sakura is gone.

A week or so passes, with no Sakura in evidence.  And then...]

[Action - By the river]

[That sure is a yelp, a flash of white, and a very loud splash as Sakura lands squarely in the river.  For a second she sinks, too startled at the abrupt change of scenery to react, and then she starts kicking toward the surface, the skirt of her dress clinging around her legs and interfering with the movement.  It'd be tempting to take a kunai to it... if she had one on her.  As it is, she doesn't .  Whoops.

She breaks the surface, gasping and shaking water out of her eyes, then pauses to stare at the village, a scowl on her face.]

Really?  Really?  I get sent home for all of an hour at best, and then this again?

[There are a couple visible changes to her -- her hair has lost all the black and red dye again, back to its normal pink from root to tip, and there's a blue diamond mark in the center of her forehead now, one that will look awfully familiar to any Konoha-nin who know her teacher.] 

I guess I should be grateful.  [She snorts]  At least it isn't the dead of winter this time. 


[Video - A little later] 

[Sakura's dry and dressed again, and she takes to the journals, flipping through it for a long moment to figure out just how long she was gone.  Not long -- a matter of days, she guesses, maybe a week or two -- but sure as heck longer than she was home!]

Hey everyone.  I'm back.  Guess they just couldn't do without me after all.  

Hinata - I hope you haven't given my room away in a week!  [She's trying to make a joke, okay.  Even if coming back from the battlefield again makes joking the last thing she wants to do.]

Sasuke... I'd like to talk to you at some point. 

[A flash of something unreadable crosses her face, and then she shakes her head.]

Everyone else... well, I hope you didn't miss me too much!

Comments

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[believeit]

Did he like... hit his head real bad or something?

[Because since when did Sasuke ever want to be Hokage.]

Yeah, you're right! As if! hah!

[medicalpunch]

As soon as I can, I'm going to check. [... Pause.] I don't think so, though.

The First is... well. I could see him changing Sasuke's mind about a lot of things. He's remarkable. But this...

[Snort.]

I think it's a bit much. Still... I can't tell you how good it is to be a team again. It's almost like he never left. [Clicking together, fitting together... that's how they're supposed to be. All three of them.]

[believeit]

Makes me kinda jealous that I haven't gone back to see it too. I know he said when he got here that he's back, and I am happy about it, but it still seems strange, y'know?

Heh! I guess it doesn't matter though, eh? He still came back!

[Still taking a moment to think about the Hokage thing though because whaaaat haha.]

Hey, Sakura-chan. So coming back here again, you still remember everything that happened before, right?

[medicalpunch]

That's right, that's the most important part. He came back and he means to stay back.

[If they all survive this, that is. But she doesn't need to share that rather grim thought.]

Right, I do remember. This time. [It still bothers her that she was apparently here a previous time that she still doesn't remember.]

[believeit]

[They are thinking along the same lines here, since that is what bothers him too.]

I wonder why it's different. I mean, you came back an remember everything, yeah? But I came back and I didn't, even though everyone says I was here for years or something.

[medicalpunch]

I didn't remember everything last time, though. So... it can't just vary by the person. Something about the time someone is gone, maybe? I was here for a while before you came back, but this time I guess I was gone only a few days....

[believeit]

Maybe that's why, then. How long was I gone, before I came back?

[medicalpunch]

I actually don't know; you left Luceti before well before I got here. But I know it was a few months at least, maybe more.

[believeit]

Yeah. That's probably why I don't remember, then.

[medicalpunch]

I guess so.

[It's still a melancholy thought.]

Bad enough we don't remember when we're at home. I wish we wouldn't forget things while we're here, too.

[believeit]

Yeah. It'd make stuff easier, anyway.

[medicalpunch]

That's for sure. But I guess things just really aren't about being easy.

[believeit]

Yeah, I guess.

You're okay though, yeah? You need me to come find you or anything?

[medicalpunch]

I'm fine -- but I wouldn't mind you coming over anyway.

[Because... just because. He's a friend, he's team, and even if he never stops being a giant idiot, he's the idiot that's going to save them all.]

[believeit]

Then I'm coming over!

[He'll bring some food or something too from the kitchen. Food makes things better.]

[He had closed the journal but wait, he's back again.]

Uh. Where are you? In your apartment?

[medicalpunch]

That's right, my same apartment. Come on over.

[Bringing his mother's cooking? Hurry on over!]

[believeit]

Yeah, I'll be there soon!!

[There will be a knock on Sakura's door some ten or fifteen minutes later. He brought the food too.]

[medicalpunch]

[And a delighted Sakura at the door to meet him!]

Hey, welcome! Come on in!

[believeit]

Hey Sakura-chan!

[He steps inside, looking for somewhere to place down this little stack of containers he is carrying.]

I brought us food, like I said! [It was for her, but then he got hungry looking at it so brought some for himself too.]

[medicalpunch]

Thank you! There's really nothing like your mother's cooking, I have to say.

[believeit]

Yeah, it's great! I brought some ramen [Obviously] and there's bread! And some.. i dunno.. bun thingies. And- [Whatever is in this tub he doesn't know.] yeah. It's food.

[medicalpunch]

[Of course he brought ramen.] Well, I guess we'll find out when we eat them, huh? C'mon, let me get you something to drink.

[believeit]

Mmm! You have plates, right? [And maybe chopsticks, or forks or something.]

[medicalpunch]

Of course! I'll get dishes... [And that's her, bustling away to get utensils and dishes. Not really her natural habitat so much, this, but reconnecting with Naruto will be nice. It's such a different thing, compared to at home.]

[believeit]

[It's nice to just hang out and do mundane things once in a while. He has his tubs of food opened up anyway, ready to be dished out once she's back.]

Hey, one time we should get Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei to come eat with us too. When was the last time we did that, huh?

[Not today though, he is perfectly happy with this being Naruto and Sakura time if the constant smiles on his face are anything to go by.]